


Books & Bicycles

by mmmarilynnn



Category: Sanders Sides, Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:20:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27157174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mmmarilynnn/pseuds/mmmarilynnn
Summary: Virgil Black's usual bike ride home is interrupted by the new kid-though Virgil feels a bit odd calling this boy who's taller than him a "kid."Looking for directions home, Roman King follows the boy he knows is his neighbor home. He's not used to the California climate, slang, or anything, really-things were so much easier back home. Luckily, he meets Virgil Black on his way to the library, and things start to fall into place.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Duk, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Kudos: 6





	1. [1] The New Kid (Clichè, I Know)

TW: mentions of anxiety, mentions of parents who are "hard to be myself around," as Virgil puts it, mentions of past panic attacks, tiny spoiler for the new episode (it doesn't say it's from the episode but it's there...)

-

Virgil shoved his things into his bag as he checked the clock. School would be out in a moment or two.

True to Virgil's guess, the bell rang only seconds later. Virgil zipped up his backpack and rushed out of the classroom with a small salute to the teacher‒his way of saying goodbye and wishing her a nice rest of her day.

There wasn't a reason for Virgil to be in a hurry. He didn't have anywhere to be and no one was counting on him being home any time soon. He just wanted to get away from the school, away from the noises and chaos of the other high schoolers milling about. Seniors jostled freshmen, holding their backpacks above their heads. Kids chatted at lockers. The occasional slam of a door of the classrooms always managed to startle Virgil.

He rushed out of the building, only one strap of his black backpack on his shoulders, as he found where his bike was parked. Though he was old enough to drive a car‒he was 16, to be exact‒he'd never learned due to his intense anxiety. And even if he hadn't had a huge fear of driving, his family would never be able to afford a car for him, and with his mom and dad working in different cities and no bus route near their house. He would've had to ride his bike anyway.

Luckily, Virgil didn't mind the ride through the countryside on his bike. It hardly rained in the temperate land of California, even if he did live in one of the slightly wetter parts of it. When it did rain, though, Virgil's best friend, Patton, always insisted on giving Virgil a ride in his car.

It was a chilly late-October day. While it had lightly misted in the morning, it hadn't been too wet. 

Virgil always enjoyed his morning and afternoon rides. It was hard not to enjoy the tranquility of the small yet smoothly paved roads, green trees surrounding you, gorgeous mountains surrounding you. Cars occasionally passed from behind you, but they always gave you space.

Most of all, Virgil liked that he could take this bike ride alone. Free from distractions, nuisances, and jerks he despised.  
Unfortunately, as he turned a corner, he realized that, this time at least, he wasn't alone. Some kid‒Was that the new kid?‒was behind him, biking along after him.

Virgil sighed and turned back to face the front of the bike, readjusting his hands on the grips nervously. Why was this kid following him?

At the next turn, Virgil hit the brakes, pulling the break with his right hand to slow the bike. The kid also stopped once he'd caught up.

"Hey, why're you following me?" Virgil asked with a glare.

The poor guy looked taken aback by Virgil's hostility, making Virgil feel a bit bad. That small slip in his defenses made him really look at this guy: messy light brown hair with slight bangs, chocolate eyes, and a dazzling smile. He was a little taller than Virgil, making it a bit weird for Virgil to keep thinking of him as "that kid." He wore a white shirt with red sleeves reaching his wrists, a golden crown design in the center as if he'd found a five-year-old's shirt and made it to fit a highschooler. Coupled with his red matchy-matchy jeans, Virgil was tempted to call him a crayon.

Crayon Boy scratched his neck awkwardly. "I'm new around here. You're my neighbor; I saw you leave your house this morning. I thought you might know the way back to our street, but now I'm even more lost than I was before. Are you sure this is the way back?"

"Why didn't you say something?" Virgil asked, though his tone was no longer venomous, more regretful. "I was going to the library. I try to stay away from home as much as possible."

"Tough parents?" Crayon Boy asked with a frown.

Virgil shrugged. "Not exactly. They mean well, but it's hard to be myself around them. Anyways, who're you?"

Crayon Boy held out his hand, which Virgil ignored. "Roman. He/him."

Virgil gave him his trademark salute. "Virgil. Also he/him. But I don't shake hands, sorry."

"Oh." Crayon Boy‒er, Roman‒pulled his hand back awkwardly. "Could you, uh, give me directions to our street? If you're not headed there? Which I guess you're not‒"

Virgil allowed a small smile to peek through. He understood Roman's anxious thoughts. "Turn back that way‒" he pointed‒ "and then go straight until you hit the highway. Take a left, then three streets later, a right, then you're there."

"Oh my gosh, thank you so much," Roman said with a relieved smile. "See you around... Virgil, was it?"

Virgil gave a slight smile. "See you." Then he turned, swinging his right leg over the bike and riding off.

Instead of his mind focusing solely on the ride around him like he had been before, he found his thoughts drifting back to the conversation he'd just had with the other boy.

This wasn't uncommon for anxiety-ridden Virgil, but something was different this time. It wasn't an unpleasant fixation, for once. He almost wanted to switch from black eyeshadow to a sparkly version of his favorite color, purple, though that'd be unrealistic, considering he was currently on a bicycle without a mirror. Why he felt he wanted to do that, he had no idea.

He reached the library faster than seemed normal, probably because his thoughts had been racing just as fast as he'd been pedaling the entire way from that corner he'd stopped at. Parking his bike in its usual spot, he walked through the library's automatic doors. He could smell the creamy vanilla candles burning like they always did as he walked into the warm room. Not only was the temperature warmer, the library felt warmer. Virgil had always been sensitive to what he could only describe as vibes, and this library gave off autumn coffee shop ones, despite it being a library.

"Hello, Virgil, how was school today?" the librarian, Ms. Reilly, asked. She was one of the few adults Virgil particularly liked after she'd helped him through a panic attack nearly a year ago and he always made sure to be kind to her in return. 

She was fairly young to be working in a library, Virgil thought—maybe mid-twenties, though Virgil had never actually asked her for her age. She always wore flowery pink somewhere in her outfit—today it was worked into her skirt. Her dark grey sweater over a blue shirt either made or broke the look, Virgil wasn't sure. Her light brown hair was swept over one shoulder and her rectangular glasses sat lopsided on the bridge of her nose precariously. 

Virgil gave her a lopsided smile as he set his backpack down beside the table and took a seat. "Pretty sure I flunked my Spanish test."

Ms. Reilly chuckled. "I'm afraid I won't be of much help in that department, unfortunately. I may love the English language—" she gestured to the books surrounding them— "but I'm no good with Spanish. I could help you with German, though, if you needed it."

"Unfortunately, Sorren hasn't got any other languages besides Spanish," Virgil said as he pulled his homework out of his backpack. Sorren was his high school. He didn't love it, but he wasn't about to go to some other odd school and not know anyone there. Patton had gone to Sorren, so Virgil had gone to Sorren. "Otherwise I'd take them so someone could help me."

Ms. Reilly smiled sympathetically. "Well, I'll leave you to get your work down. Best of luck with your Spanish class!"

"Thanks, Reilly." Virgil sighed and turned to his homework. "Let's see what we've got today."


	2. [2] Sister Supremecy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Roman’s interesting family!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: ⚠️DIRTY HUMOR⚠️ (I mean, it's Remus, what did you expect?), a teensy bit of angst, also a lack of parent supervision/availability (not in a bad way, but I feel like this might be triggering for some people so yeah <3)

Roman followed Virgil's directions without much of a problem. He did his best to commit the directions to memory as he took in the sights of October in California. 

Despite everyone's sweaters, Roman didn't find it cold. He supposed that growing up in New York, where it got cold enough to snow as early as October some years, would do that to you. Some years it hadn't stopped snowing until April or May, so Roman was used to the cold. These California folk, though, definitely weren't. 

It was also odd living in a much smaller city than the Big Apple. It wasn't a small town, exactly, but it wasn't New York City or even Los Angeles or San Francisco. 

"On your left," Roman said with a small smirk as he passed a middle-aged man walking by. No one had to know why the simple line was funny to him.

At the crosswalk, Roman stopped long enough to put in earbuds. He turned on "Buddy Holly," though he'd never tell his brother he listened to anything besides Disney and musicals. Remus would... well, Roman wasn't entirely sure _what_ Remus would do, but he knew his _sister_ would have a huge fangirling session over his listening to Weezer, of all bands. She loved that type of music. 

Roman found his street in no time at all, thanking the heavens that Virgil had given him good directions. He propped his bike up on the side of his house since it didn't have a kickstand and walked to the door, grabbing his key out to open the door. 

"I'm home!" he called. 

"Oh, hey, Ro," his sister called. Maia, probably from the kitchen. 

Roman turned the corner, spying his sister, sure enough, sitting on a stool by the counter, bent over some homework. She had one earbud in, the other on the counter, connected to her phone. A textbook sat next to her and her notebook was open. "Hey, Maia."

Maia looked up and smiled in relief, her golden-brown curly hair fanning out around her face. "Thank God, you got home okay."

Roman feigned offense but knew his sister meant well. "I can take care of myself, Maia, I'm 15 years old, y'know."

"Hey, it's my job to keep you alive," Maia complained. "Where's Re?"

Roman shrugged. "Found some guy to drive him home."

"I swear to God, if they're—"

Roman waved his hands to cut her off. "They're not! I threatened the guy before we left that if he and Remus did anything I'd beat him up myself."

Maia raised her eyebrows. "You're not exactly intimidating, Roman."

"Shut up, Maia," Roman complained. "I'm plenty intimidating."

"Anyway, I'm gonna text Remus to figure out where he is," Maia said, grabbing her phone. "You need anything? Food, a snack or something?"

Roma shook his head. "I'll make myself something."

"You gonna need help with homework?"

"Not that I know of, but if it turns out I do I'll let you know."

"And everyone was nice, right?" Maia asked. 

Roman didn't catch himself staring wistfully off into space as he confirmed, "Yeah. Everyone was nice."

Maia plugged her earbuds back in, unpausing "505" just as it got to the good part. The interruption sort of ruined the effect, as if you'd paused "All I Wanted" halfway through so that Hayley's vocals had been less impressive, but she enjoyed the song nonetheless. 

Opening Messages, she found Remus easily. He always sent her random memes and gibberish and was always near the top of her messages. She couldn't remember a time she'd had to scroll down to find their conversation. 

_re !! where are you??_

Sent. 

Sighing, she took her phone off silent and waited for his reply. She didn't want to have to call him or her mom, but she wouldn't be surprised if she had to. Remus had a mind of his own, and his rebellions had only gotten worse as he got older. 

She didn't _miss_ the times when she'd babysat the twins when they were younger and Remus had ended up starting kitchen fires on accident, or when he'd gotten the police called on them and she'd had to answer the door, exactly. But it would have been nice to not have to worry about him coming home each night. 

Maia checked her other texts, mostly from a group chat and a couple from her friend. She ignored them for now, getting to work on her biology homework and ignoring the real reason she ignored their texts. 

A couple pages of notes in, her phone buzzed twice. She opened the texts, glad to see they were from Remus. 

_at a friends house_

_leave me alone_

Maia rubbed her temple. Against her will, she called him. 

Remus picked up immediately. "Maia! Leave me alone!"

"Remus, you need to let us know before you just _go to a friend's house_ ," Maia said. She knew she was nagging, but she didn't care. "Tell your friend you have to leave."

"But it's so much better here," Remus whined. "His house is actually set up, unlike the mess of a house ours is right now."

"Well, ours will be set up soon," Maia tried. "C'mon, do you really want Mom to ground you the first week in California?"

Remus sighed obnoxiously loudly. "Fine. I'll get Jan to drive me."

Maia smiled. "Good. Thanks, Re."

"Bye!" Remus yelled, dragging out the word as he hung up. 

Maia smiled. At least Remus had _some_ sense. 

Remus sighed. "I'm _really_ sorry, J-Anus, but I've got to go. My sister is making me go home."

"I gathered," Janus said. Remus couldn't help thinking his voice was gorgeously deep and smooth. "Do you need a ride, then?"

Remus grinned. "Sure, I could take a ride home with you."

Janus sighed. "Alright, get in the car."

"Jeez, sounds like you're kidnapping me," Remus said, eyebrows raised with a smirk. 

"Do you ever _stop_ being horny?" Janus asked. 

Remus shrugged. "Not really."

Janus shook his head. "Alright, well, c'mon, sounds like your sister's ready to kill you. Better get you home on time."

"How gentlemanly," Remus remarked. 

"See, there you go again," Janus said, leading Remus outside to his car. "I've only known you one day, and I swear you won't stop making dirty jokes."

"Hey, that one wasn't _that_ dirty," Remus protested. 

They got in Janus's Jeep without another word. Remus hated the awkward silence that came on. 

"Can I turn on the radio?" Remus asked, hoping he'd be able to fill the silence. 

"Knock yourself out," Janus told him. "Not literally," he added as an afterthought. 

Remus cringed inwardly but reached out to fiddle with the dashboard, finding a radio station playing old 80's music and leaving it there. He'd always found old music comforting. 

"Holiday" by Madonna ended and "Dancing in the Dark" by Bruce Springsteen began to play soon after. Remus hummed along, hoping he didn't annoy Janus too much in doing so. 

"This your house?" Janus asked, pointing at the yellow two-story building beside them. 

Remus blinked. He must have blanked out. "Oh, um, yeah. It is. Thanks."

The door opened, and a steaming Maia walked out. "Remus and friend!" she yelled, marching out. Roman appeared in the doorway behind her, grinning with an _Ooh, busted!_ look on his face. Remus stuck his tongue out at him. 

"Don't stick your tongue out at me," Maia said. 

Remus started. "I was sticking it out at Ro—"

"Uh uh uh, I don't want to hear it," Maia interrupted. "Who's your friend?"

Remus whipped his head around to look at Janus, who nodded in acknowledgement to Maia. "Janus Heath."

Maia gestured between them. "You two didn't...?"

"Shut up," Remus growled. 

"I'll take that as a no," Maia said. "C'mon, Re, let's go. And, Janice, was it? That's my aunt's name. Nice meeting you."

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So, yeah, it's me, the author, AKA Marilyn! Nice to meet you, dear reader (unless I already know you-)!
> 
> So I promise this is gonna pick up, this is mostly the exposition... And anyone who's read any of my works before knows I tend to rant in my author's notes, but I'm going to do my best to keep these ones short, so.... 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


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